Wayne Kemp

Induction Year: 1999

Birth Name: Clarence Wayne Kemp

Birth Date: 06-01-1941

Place of Birth: Greenwood, Arkansas

Death Date: 03-09-2015

Place of Death: Lafayette, Tennessee

Wayne Kemp was one of nine children born to a musical family. His parents
played several instruments and always encouraged their kids to sing and
harmonize together. When Wayne was six, the family moved to Oklahoma, and soon
he was performing in church and at local events. By the age of 16, he was
writing songs and playing guitar professionally with Tulsa country star Benny
Ketchum.

Kemp's first break came in 1965, when a friend passed his demo tape to George
Jones. The singer liked the guitar playing and two of Kemp's songs, "Love Bug"
and "I Made Her That Way," and recorded them. Soon, Kemp found himself in
Nashville, recording with Jones and making his own solo record.

But just as his star was on the rise, tragedy struck. En route to a gig, a
drunk driver crashed into the car that Kemp and his band were riding in. The
car burst into flames. Two of Kemp's band mates were killed, and Wayne suffered
third degree burns on his face, hands and legs. Doctors told him he would never
play guitar again.

But with hard work and determination, Kemp proved them wrong. In 1968, he had
his first #1, "Next in Line" by Conway Twitty, quickly followed by Twitty's
hits with "Darling, You Know I Wouldn't Lie" and "That's When She Started to
Stop Loving You." Kemp signed as a staff writer with Tree International and hit
the road, playing guitar for Twitty. His own solo recording career finally got
rolling the year after, with hits like "Won't You Come Home (And Talk to a
Stranger)" and "Bar Room Habits."

For the next two decades, Kemp pursued his solo career while writing for others
and earning a gold-plated reputation as a master of the "tear in my beer"
heartbreak song. Along the way, he scored cuts by Johnny Cash (the #1 country
hit "One Piece at a Time"), George Strait, Johnny Paycheck, Hank Williams Jr.,
Ronnie Milsap, Jack Greene, Faron Young, Mickey Gilley, Charley Pride and Ricky
Van Shelton (another country #1, with "I'll Leave This World Loving
You").

In recent years, Kemp has returned to performing, while continuing to write. He
was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1999.